ISABEL: 


A TALE OF THE MEXICAN BANDITTI. 


By nelson. 

[^T XII.] 


Privately Printed. 
1884. 



CUcttvei 


ISABEL; 


A TALE OF THE MEXICAN BANDITTI. 

I 


By WM. ^ELSON. 

[^T. XII.] 


Privately Printed. 
1884. 





OrUy tioenty-five copies printed. 


No. 

JpbL 


\ 


The following production w'as read in instalments to the Third — 
now the C — Class of the Newark Public High School, in May and June, 
1859 (the writer having been admitted to that institution in April), and 
by request of the Class was afterwards read before the whole school on 
one of the Friday afternoons then devoted to “literary exercises.” As 
the work of a lad but twelve years old this amateur attempt at fiction 
made quite an impression on the young hearers, some of whom have 
often expressed a desire to read it for themselves. The original manu- 
script having recently come to light, the story has been put in print, to 
gratify this wish on the part of a few friends of the author. The edition 
has been limited to twenty-five copies, merely for pidvate circulation. 
It is presumed the supply will equal the demand. The stoiy has been 
printed precisely as written, without any revision of the crudities of 
the young writer. As originally read before his Class, however, the story 
was ‘entitled: “A Narrow Escape. From the Unpublished Chronicles 
of a Traveler. ” The Class teacher suggested the present title. 

How the author came to select his theme, and how the details of 
the plot came to suggest themselves to his mind, it is now impossible 
to say. There is apparentlj^ a flavor of the Arabian Nights, however, in 
the robbers’ cave, the secret passages, hidden doors and the like, and 
the writer moreover has some recollection of a grand scheme which he 
and certain comrades of his own years and wdsdom had on foot at this 
time, to excavate an extensive cavern under an unoccupied lot on Shef- 
field street near the Morris and Essex Kailroad (Newark), wherein to 
hold youthful conclaves of a vague and mysterious character. Per- 
chance the philosophical inquirer into the persistency of hereditary 
types will discover in this fondness for caverns, to be found among 
boys, and men who are only boys, a reminiscence of our troglodyte 
ancestors ! 

Paterson, N. J., Christmas, 1884. 



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, . . 


ISABEL: 

A TALE OF THE MEXICAN BANDITTI. 

— a) — 

Once upon a time, as I was transacting some business in a Western 

State, I had occasion to go to the small town of G , to see about 

some very important matters, and as there were no railroads in the 
vicinity I was obliged to go by stage. So I got ready one fine bracing 
morning in the month of March. After transferring myself and bag- 
gage into the coach I .took a seat and having looked around I was 
agreeably surprised to find that I had but one traveling companion, a 
middle-sized gentleman whose face betokened a lifetime of adventures. 
However, I was resolved to draw’ him out, if possible. He sat appar- 
ently thinking of some exciting incident of his past life. With my 
view’ in mind I took a seat over beside him, and sat looking out of the 
window, as if I was admiring the beauties of nature, w’hile in reality I 
was revolving in my mind what I should say to the mysterious 
stranger. At last I mustered courage to address him. Said I : “It is 
a very fine morning, sir.” The stranger started and raising his head 
said, “Did you speak to me, sir?” “Yes, sir,” said I ; “I said it 
was a fine morning.” “Oh, ah ! Yes. That is, it is a very fine morn- 
ing, sir, ” said he, and again relapsed into silence. Nothing daunted, 
however, I again spoke to him. “Sir,” said I, “do you not think it 
w’ould be a good plan to tell stories to each other to relieve the tedious- 
ness of our journey ?” “Yes,” said he, “suppose you begin?” This I 
was not very willing to do, so offering some trivial excuse about not 
thinking of any just then, I requested him to begin. After resting his 
head upon his hand^as if to collect his thoughts, he began as follows : 

“I was alw^aj^s possessed of a wild, wandering disposition, w’hich 
seemed to be the bane of my life. In my childhood I used to ride on 
the little calves and young colts that belonged about the farm, and I 
often paid very dear for my rashness when the animals took it into 
their heads to throw me. But I shall pass over my boyish adventures 
and endeavor to give you an outline of one of my many adventures 
which came near resulting in death to me. 

“When I had attained my manhood for a few years I resolved to 
go to Mexico in quest of something to relieve the tediousness of my 
lonely life, for my parents had been dead for several years. So pack- 


6 


ing lip my effects, at least such as I thought needful, and taking care 
to see that I had plenty of fire-arms and ammunition; and also that 
passport to favor in all countries — plenty of money — I got upon a train 
which was to take me on part of my way. After eight weeks’ hard 
travel I arrived at the city of Mexico, safe and sound, except a little 
wayworn. I stayed there a while to recruit my health. While I was 
there I mingled with the dark-eyed senoritas pretty freely, and caused 
many a lover’ to watch me with jealous eyes. Not long after I had 
been introduced into the highest circles of Mexican society I met with 
the lovely Donna Isabella — ^but she is now dead,” said the stranger, 
wiping his eyes tvith his handkerchief. ‘ ‘Biit to continue.' Almost 
before I was aware of it, I had fallen desperately in love with her. 
Shortly after I had become acquainted with her, I proposed my heart, 
hand and fortune, when she, with tears in her eyes, told me that she 
had been engaged for several years, before I arrived there, but that 
continued obstacles had been in the way of their marriage. Some- 
times she thought that her intended was faithless, and that she in- 
tended to discard him if they were not married on the next appointed 
day. I, from my inmost soul, hoped that something would intervene, 
and with a promise of friendship from her I took my leave, telling her 
that I would see her again. 

‘ ‘The next day I hired a coach to take me to a neighboring town, 
for I could not bear to stay there any longer. I gave some directions 
to the driver about ar few things and then went up stairs to see if my 
trunk was all right. I opened it and took out two pair of revolvers. I 
examined the priming carefully, * to see if there was anything the mat- 
ter with them. Finding them all right I placed them in my trunk 
again and turned the key in the lock, without taking it out. I then 
I)roceeded down stairs to see about something to eat before starting. 
I did not notice the stealthy form of my driver crouched up in one 
corner. If I had seen him then I might have been spared a great deal 
of sorrow, pain and trouble. It was pretty late when we started, but I 
was in no mood then to think about time. 

“We got on pretty well for the first day or tw«. On the third day 
or evening we came to the outskirts of a large wood, which we entered 
about nightfall. This did not make me cheerful, I must confess, and 
yet it did not make me afraid. However, we jogged along — or rather 
the horses did — till we came to a very dark place, then all of a sudden 
the horses were stopped and several heads were poked in the windows 
of the coach. I tried to get my pistols out in time to prevent the en- 
trance of the ruffians, and finally succeeded in doing so. I fired them 
all off in rapid succession, but to my surprise they laughed at 

*The first revolvers were loaded with powder and ball. The writer did pot know this 
when the above was written, but probably the “mj^steripus stranger” did. 




V 


7 


me, as if nothing was going on. This made me think that somebody 
had been handling my pistols. But suddenly the truth flashed upon 
my mind, that the balls had been extracted from them, and who could 
gain access to them so easily as my driver? These thoughts passed 
through my brain more quickly than I now relate them to you. While 
I was cogitating these things in my mind, I w^as aroused by the harsh 
voice of one of the robbers outside, saying : ‘Come, Senor, jump out 
here !’ Of course I had no alternative but to obey wdth as good grace 
as possible ; so jumping out on the ground, I felt my arms secured 
' from behind, with my elbows meeting. This was no very pleasant sit- 
uation for me at this time, I assure you, but I w'as obliged to submit 
to it. Some sort of a heavy sack or mantle was then thrown over my 
head, to guard against any stray ray of light coming to my eyes. In 
this manner I was hurried on for some time till I felt the cold, damp 
air of a subterranean vault or cave. Suddenly I was relieved of the 
mantle on my head and my arms were untied. Looking up, my eyes 
were saluted with a dazzling blaze of light. As soon as I got accus- 
tomed to it I found myself an inmate of a spacious cave or under- 
ground chamber. It was brilliantly lighted with large lamps suspended 
from the ceiling. It was also furnished very well, being supplied with 
numerous tables scattered about the room, and around wLich I saw 
several men playing, or rather gambling for gold, my driver among 
them. I instantly perceived that he was one of the bandits. A great 
many eyes were turned upon me, as if they wanted to know why I was 
there. That w'as soon explained by the driver — ^Antonio, as he was 
called, who it seemed had just entered about a moment before. When 
he had finished his recital he was greeted with shouts of applause by 
his hearers. Just as I was recovering mj^ senses a couple of men came 
in and told me in a gruff voice to follow them. I obeyed, and took 
special pains to notice everything on my way, such as a j)rojection 
from the side of the passage, for I thought I might have occasion to 
travel that way again, without anybody to guide me. In short, I 
thought I might make my escape that way. I could easily see that 
part of the way was made by nature, and part by human agency. On 
we went, along the dark, dismal passages, up steep ascents, then down 
again, my guides — one behind and one before — never speaking a word 
to me, until we came to a place where the passage seemed to end.* But 
the man in front went right straight ahead, and when he got near the 
wall in front of us, he pushed his hand against a particular spot, when, 
as if by magic, the wall seemed to divide, leaving an open space 
through which we entered into a small, richly furnished apartment. 


*The first instalment of the original manuscript ended here with a “to be continued,” 
and the listeners were kept in an agonizing suspense until the next fortnightly “composi- 
tion day” necessitated a resumption of the narrative. 


4» 


8 


when the wall behind ns immediately closed np. I was completely 
bewildered, with the twisting and turning, as well as with the sights I 
had seen since mj^ coach had been stopped. After a little while my 
head became sufficiently clear to enable me to discover where I was 
and all that I had seen on my way. I also knew why I had been 
brought there. I supposed they had meant to take all my valuables, 
or else get a ransom for me, but it seemed more likely that they would 
do both. 

“1 looked around and saw up in one end of the room a sort of 
throne, richly set with pearls, diamonds and all sorts of precious stones. 
Over this tlu-one was a small canopy covered with small stars of gold 
and silver. From the arched roof hung a magnificent golden chandel- 
ier, si3arkling with diamonds in the bright light of the 'waxen tapers. 
Having thus made myself acquainted with the inanimate contents of 
the apartment, I then next turned my attention to the animate. Under 
the canopy before mentioned was seated a man of decidedly handsome 
and also villanous appearance. There seemed to be something familiar 
about him, so I thought, and upon looking at him again my suspicions 
were verified. He was my rival to the hand of my dear Isabella. And 
she was to be the wife of a brigand chief! The thought was maddening, 
and I inwardly resolved to prevent it. As yet he knew not that I was 
his rival. He was of a muscular development, very broad shouldered and 
had a full chest. Still, this did not mar his beauty and symmetry. But 
when one came to look at his countenance they could easily see, even 
if they were not physiognomists, that the heart within was black as 
Erebus. * I knew that he was their chief, for who would occupy that 
place besides him ? Surely, no one. Another incident here occurred 
to verify my opinion. As I was looking at him I saw the men bow to 
him, as if he had been a king. 

“ ‘Captain,” said one, ‘here is the prisoner.’ 

“The chief waved his hand for them to withdraw. They immediate- 
ly obej^ed. When they had left the room the chief turned to Ine. 

“ ‘Sir,” said he, ‘you see we have been a little rough with you.’ 

‘ ‘ ‘Oh, yes, of course, ’ said I, ironically. 

“The chief did not notice the manner in which I had spoken, f but 
again said to me : 

‘ ‘ ‘It is our custom when we entertain travelers a little while to re- 
quire a little gold from their friends as a testimonial of regard for them. 
Do you understand nie, sir?’ 


* While the author was reading this remarkable production to his spellbound classmates, » 
the teacher — Mr. Howell — interrupted him to ask the meaning of the word “Erebus.” The 
little fellow blushed, looked down and murmured, “the bad place.” The tea^cher was satis* 
tied. 

tHow very stupid of him, to be sure! 


\ 


9 


“ ‘I think I do, sir. Yon mean that you require that my friends 
shall give a ransom for me, or else I shall be murdered.’ 

“ ‘Well,’ said he, ‘if you wish to say it in such a harsh manner you 
can. But what do you think your friends will do about you ? Do you 
think they will give a good ransom ?’ 

‘ ‘ ‘How much do you require ?’ said I. 

“ ‘Well,’ said he, ‘as you seem to be civil, we will let you off for 
five thousand dollars.’ 

“ ‘If I pay you myself,’ said I, ‘I suppose you would let me off?’ 

‘ ‘ ‘Oh, then you have money along ? But you will not need it here. 
We will provide for you, and as for paying your way out, we will not 
for a moment think of that. We wish your friends to pay your ran- 
som, to show their regard for you.’ 

“After talking a little while longer I was informed in the most gen- 
tle manner that my money was to be confiscated, and that my ransom 
must be paid in three months, or else I was to be helped over a preci- 
pice near by, as it was the shortest way to the country below. 

“I had only one hope, and that was to make my escape, for I did 
not expect that anyone in the city would pay my ransom, seeing that 
they had only been acquainted with me for a very short time. After 
thinking the matter over I resolved to write to one of my friends and 
tell him where I was, and what was required of me, and I told him to 
make all possible haste and send the money. 1 also told him where to 
leave it. Having hastily penciled these few lines on a leaf out of my 
pocketbook, I handed it to the chieftain to read, who, when he had 
perused its contents, seemed satisfied and told me that it would be given 
to the gentleman the very next day. Having satisfied ourselves upon 
this matter, the chief, whom we ;v\ill call Bartaloni, * which I think was 
really his name, touched a small bell near by, when the door through 
which I had entered opened again and a small boy of about fourteen 
years, t entered.” 

“ ‘Take this gentleman to yonder room, ’ said the chief to him, point- 
ing to the right of the apartment. The boy beckoned to me to follow 
him. I did so. When he got to the wall, on which hung several ex- 
ceedingly large pictures — 

“ ‘What’s that?’ said he, looking around as if listening to some- 
thing. I turned my head around to see if I could see anything par- 
ticular, but I instantly perceived that it was a ruse on the part of my 
companion to attract my attention from him while he opened the secret 
door. We went into another apartment of about the same kind as the 


♦Although the scene of the story is laid among a Spanish-speaking people, Antonio and 
Bartaloni are rather Italian names, if, indeed, the latter is not an invention of the writer’s. 

tThis is cool. The author, only twelve, and undersized for his age, speaking of “a 
small boy of fourteen years !” 


10 



one I had just left. The chief told the young lad to attend regularly to 
all my wants. The boy soon left, after having showm me a small lamp 
of silver up in a niche in the wall. He lit it for me, and showed me 
a box of matches with which I could light the lamp when I wished. He 
also took care to close the door after him, and so nicely did it fit that I 
could not see where it was. But I knew about where the door had been, 
and then I remembered that the picture on the other side of the wall 
had disappeared when I turned around, so that I knew it must slide 
some way, whether down, up or to one side, I knew not. 

“Well, I stayed here for a considerable time. my watch I judged 
it to be about three weeks, and I thought I had explored my prison to 
the utmost, when one morning, just after a man had left provisions for 
the day, I thought I saw a small ray of light. It made me jump for joy. 

' You may be sure I was in a hurry to examine it, and see my chance for 
escape. I brought my lamp, and quickly saw that the cave extended 
no farther in that direction, but the wall had been broken away there, 
and perhaps the bandits had another door there through which they 
might escape if there were any danger. As I was looking about I saw a 
paper in a hole in the rock. I got it, and having opened it read the con- 
tents. They were in substance as follows : 

“ ^Whoever finds this paper, if they are prisoners in this room it may 
he useful to them to look at the following directions : In this hole where you 
find this paper there is a spring. Pash your arm inhere and you will press 
it, and a panel loill slide hack. Then you will find a pair of winding stairs. 
Go down the stairs till you get to the very bottom. There you loill see four 
passages. Traverse the one to the right till you come to a place ichere the 
passage seemingly stops. Then you will see a red spot on the wall before 
you. Press on that and you icill he at liberty.' 

“I tell you what, I was not long in following those directions, 
though it seemed curious to me how he could know the w'aj^ to get out, 
for if he had once got out it did not seem likely that he would come 
back and write out directions for anyone else to get out. But then, he 
might have got outside and seen some of the robbers coming toward 
him, and retreated to his apartment, and then had been guarded 
sharply so that he could not have a favorable opportunity to escape 
afterwards. I sat down and was thinking the matter over, and was 
looking over the paper I had in my hands, when I saw that I had not 
read the whole of it. I quickly opened it and read the rest. It went 
on to say that he had been guarded pretty well, but he had found 
another way out, which would not be so dangerous for him, as they had 
not guarded it then. It told who had written it, and the name of the 
chief. 

‘ T got up and put the paper in my pocket, and was not long in fob 
lowing those directions, as I said before, I took my lamp with me, for 


11 


fear of accidents hajipening on the road. All was right with me, and 
the same as was written in the paper. Down the winding stairs, through 
the passage on the right, until finally I stood before the last barrier to 
liberty, as I supposed. But as I was about to jiress the spring, I 
heard voices on the other side of the wall. Then I heard a sharp cry 
of pain — a heavy fall — a groan, and then all was still. I sprang to the 
side of the wall from which the sound appeared to proceed. I saw a 
small projection of the rock, and pressed it, when a door moved to one 
side and I entered. When I had entered I saw a fine, handsome young 
cavalier, with a drawn sword in his hand, which was still red with the 
blood of the unfortunate man on the floor. I started back aghast at the 
sight, but the young man took it all very coolly, though he eyed me 
sharply. Pretty soon we got on intimate terms, when I found that he 
was the benevolent gentleman who had left the directions for escaping 
from the cave. 

“ ‘God bless you !’ said I, ‘for you have saved my life, and I shall 
always be indebted to you. 

“ ‘Tut, tut,’ said. he ; ‘I did not know that you would be put in there; 
and besides, I did not know that I could not have got out of this infer- 
nal place — ’ 

“At this juncture we heard a noise, as of men walking towards us. 

‘ ‘ ‘Here ! this way, ’ said I, as I bounded toward the door through 
which I entered. But I found I was mistaken in that direction, for the 
door was closed. 

“ ‘Take these pistols,’ said my companion, handing me a pair of 
revolvers taken from the fallen man. I gi-asped them firmly, and hav- 
ing cocked them I stood ready for the foe when he should enter. But 
the foe did not enter, and after listening until the footsteps died away, 
we set about seeing how to get out. I had set the lamp down when 
we heard the steps approaching. I now took it up in one hand, while 
in the other I held the pistols. I soon found the spring, and having 
opened the door I beckoned to my companion to follow me. He did 
so, and when he got outside of the apartment he told me we were in 
the wrong passage. We saw how it was that we had heard the foot- 
steps ; the door through which I was about to go led to the large 
apartment where I was taken on the night of my caj)ture. Here cer- 
tainly was the hand of Providence. There I was about to walk right 
into the lion’s den, when I was arrested by the cry which finally would 
lead to our escape, for we could not doubt but that we would make our 
escape now. We got back to the foot of the winding stairs, when I saw 
wherein lay my mistake. I had gone through the wrong passage. 
There were three walls, and in the wall in front of us there were what 
seemed to be two doors, while in reality there was but one door. The 
other was but an aperture dug in the rock like a door,. On the left 


{ 


12 


there was only one door, but on the light there were two doors, one so 
far back in the shade that one could scarcely see the other one. The 
one I had gone through could be seen almost without looking ; so it 
aji^ieared very natural that I should make the mistake I did. 

“I asked my young companion how it was that he came to be 
where I had found him ? He told me he had been taken in about the 
same manner in which I had been. He had been taken to the apart- 
ment where I had found the paper. He had been taken in 18 — . 

‘ ‘ ‘Why, said I, ‘That is nearly four years ago !’ 

‘What !” said he, ‘have I lost four years of 1113’^ precious time?’ 

“I could not helxi pitjdng the j^oung man when I saw the look of 
agonj^ that passed over his countenance. 

“ ‘How or wh}^ did the chief keep you here so long?’ said I, anxious 
to change the subject. 

“ ‘Because,’ he replied, ‘he wished to wed my sister, and I was op- 
posed to their marriage, and told her that he was a bad man, and that 
she should beware of him. So he, out of revenge, caiitured me one 
day when I was riding out alone, and put me in the room where you 
found those papers. As I told 3"ou, one day (or night it was to me, as 
I had no light), as 1 was feeling around the wall of the apartment my 
hand went into that hole, and before I could draw it out I saw ])art of 
the wall slide back, or perhaps it would be better to sa}" that I felt it 
slide back. I stepped cautiously through the aperture and found the’ 
stairs. As I was feeling my way down a little piece of the rock gave 
way and I saw the light of dny for the tirst time since my capture. I 
looked up on the clear blue sky for a few moments, when I remem- 
bered where I was, and proceeded on till I came to the foot of the 
stairs, when some wa}" I turned around and fortunately I went through 
the right door. I went on till I came to a door, which I opened, and 
found mj'self in the open air. I was just going away when I thought I 
might be seen bjr some of the bandits, and perhaps I should need 
provisions. On the whole, I concluded to remain until night set 
in. I then went back to the hole I had made, and took out a curious 
contrivance that contained pen, ink and paper, and which I still cany. 

I wrote on the paper the directions you found, and put the paper in 
the hole. That night I left the apartment, with provisions enough to 
last me for one or two daj^s. I also took a little water. Unfortunate- 
ly, when I got to the foot of the stairs, I went through the wrong door, 
and you know the consequence. I was captured.’ 

“ ‘Who is your sister?’ said I ; ‘what is her name?’ 

“ ‘Isabel,’ said the young man laconically. 

“ ‘So I supposed.’ 

‘ ‘I then told him my relations to her. When I had done, he grasped 
my hand. 


13 


“ ‘I will help yon to press your suit. But we must be otf, for even a 
moment’s delay may be fatal.’ 

“We 'had been sitting on the stairs, to get rested a little, while this 
conversation took place. We now started up and went through the 
right passage. We went on until we came to the door which kept us 
from liberty. We jiressed the sjpring, the door flew open, and before 
us lay a lovely scene. 

“It was dark, and the moon and stars were shining out, shedding a 
serene light over the beautiful valley below us. I tell you, no person 
but one who has been in a similar situation can imagine our feelings 
then. We simultaneously fell upon our knees and offered up a prayer 
of thanksgiving to God who had thus signally saved our lives. We 
then set about getting down, for we were on the brow of a steep preci- 
pice, and there was no waj’- to be seen to get down. We were about giv- 
ing up our search, when my companion told me that he had found a way 
to get down. He showed me a couple of vines twisted around each 
other, climbing up the face of the rock. We^tiied them, and found 
them secure enough to bear a great weight. My companion went down 
flrst, I followed. After sliding, slipping and scratching our hands and 
tearing our clothes for half an hour at least, we reached the ground in 
safety. We traveled around down the side of the mountain till we saw 
a light through the trees. It was a beacon of hope to us, for we were 
well nigh despairing. However, after dragging our weary limbs along 
for a while we at last reached a small hut. We knocked at the door, 
and sank down from exhaustion. A man came to the door, and seeing 
us lying there carried us in and put us by the tire. We were asleep 
almost on the instant. In the morning we were up early and felt 
greatly refreshed. We told the man that we had just escaped from a 
cave up in the mountains, where we had been kept by the robbers. 
The man said he would take us to the city at once, and there we could 
complain to the authorities and have the bandits arrested. We got 
prepared as soon as possible, and started for the town under the guid- 
ance of the man into whose house we h.ad happily been brought. We 
reached the gates of the city at about eight o’clock in the morning, and 
proceeded to the house of a magistrate a little distance off. We stated 
the case to him, and he was very glad to secure our services to guide a 
band of soldiers to the robbers’ cave. He told us to be ready early the 
next morning. 

“We next proceeded to the house in which Donna Isabella now re- 
sided. We found festivities going on. Upon asking what was the 
matter, we were told that the lady was to be married that afternoon. 
My companion revealed himself to a few of the old servants, who were 
overjoyed to see their young master. Without a moment’s delay we 
went back to the magistrate and told him that if he would let us have 


. 14 

four stout, trustworthy men we would bring the robber chief, Bar- 
taloni, before him in the evening. The magistrate was willing to let 
us have four hundred men if we would bring the dread Bartaloni to 
him. However, we only wanted four men, and so we took them. We 
then went with the soldiers to the shop of a Jew, for you must know 
that those enterprising, money-making people are to be found in every 
country and clime. When we went in we found the little Jew behind 
the counter, serving some customers. AVhen they had gone out we 
told the Jew we wanted some disguises. He then led the way to a 
small back room and commenced showing us all sorts of clothes. At 
length we fixed upon the dress of merchants, so fixing them on we 
browned our faces and hands with some sort of stuff that the Jew had. 
We left enough money to pay for the clothes in case we should not re- 
turn them. Perhaps you will think it strange that we should have 
some money, but it will suffice to saj^ that I had kept nearly all the 
gold that I had when I was captured. 

“ The whole six of us then went to the house of the bride. We saw 
a man standing at the door. My young companion went up to him and 
whispered a few words in his ear ; the man steppqd aside and let us 
pass. Away we went, when the servants told us that the j^riest was 
there with the couple before him in an apartment upstairs. They told 
us w'hich aiiartment it was, and two steps at a time we went upstairs, 
along the corridors until we stood before the identical door. There was 
a man there, but Don Carlos, my young friend, thrust him aside and 
passed in just in time to hear the jiriest ask if anyone present had any 
objections to the marriage of the couple then standing up. Don Carlos 
did not say anything to the priest,- but gave one bound toward the 
bridegroom and felled him to the floor. Isabella shrieked and sank 
fainting into my arms. I bore her to a couch, and having laid her, 
ujion it I apxilied all the restoratives \rithin reach, and soon had the 
satisfaction of seeing her open her eyes. Meanwhile all was con- 
fusion. The soldiers seeing the way clear, advanced and bound the con- 
quered man hand and foot with rojDes that they had brought with them 
for the x)urx)ose. ' . . 

“These things were done in less than a minute. Now the peoj^le 
who had come to see the marriage ceremony performed were standing 
around the fallen man with dark looks and threatening gestures ; but 
Don Carlos soon ex^ffained himself and told who we were. He then re- 
quested them to leave us alone, and aj^pointed a day when he would tell 
them all about our adventures. Most of them passed out, but we no- 
ticed three men who cast rather longing looks towards Bartaloni, as if 
they wished to take him with them. I had only obtained a side look at 
their faces, but now one of them turned his face full toward me. I im- 
mediately recognized him as one of the robbers whom I had seen in the. 


15 


large cave where 1 was taken first after my capture. I w'eni around be- 
hind him to the door, as if I was looking for something. When I got 
near it I turned the key in the lock and then put it in my pocket. Don 
Carlos had seen this manoeuvre and looked questioningly at me. I 
pointed at the men before me. He looked at them a moment, and he 
seemed to recognize them. I hit the one nearest to 'me a blow which 
knocked him over. Don Carlos settled another, when the remaining 
one surrendered. The whole of these transactions, from the time when 
Carlos had first entered the apartment to the time wdien we settled the 
three bandits, had occurred in less than half an hour. 

‘ ‘Isabella had completely recovered herself. She nearly fainted when 
we revealed ourselves to her, especially when she saw her dear brother 
standing alive before her. She received me cordially also. Then she 
asked why we had dealt so with the man she was going to marry. We 
told her who he was, and thereupon we gave a complete ‘ account of all 
our adventures. We had a happy time that night. We did not permit 
the soldiers to go home, but kept them there that night with the prison- 
ers. . • ' 

“The next morning we went with the soldiers and the prisoners to 
the magistrate. He gave us a large party of soldiers with which to take 
the bandits. We took one of the bandits to guide us if we could not' 
find the cave. When we got there we could not find one of the robbers. 
We searched every place around the, cave that we could think of, but 
not a trace of them could w'e find. The robber then told us that he 
thought -they must have had spies in town, who when they had heard 
what had become of their chief, had gone back and told the rest of the 
band, and then the whole company had gone away and taken what gold 
and other valuables they could get. We took all away that we could 
and then went back to the city. 

‘ ‘The next day was appointed for the tiial of Bartaloni, but there 
was not much chance of his escape from the just punishment that await- 
ed him. Nevertheless, he did escape it; but only by a dreadful alterna- 
tive, that of suicide. The turnkey went in the morning and found him 
lying dead on the floor of the cell. We were glad of it, for we did not 
like to go and witness against him. Isabella was glad, too, although 
she had never liked him, her friends having persuaded her to marry 
him. 

“Two weeks after these events I again j^roposedto my beloved Isa- 
bella, and this time with better success, and she herself appointed tho 
day for our marriage, which happened to be the same as Carlos had ap- 
pointed for the relation of our adventures. The eventful day came and 
we were mariied. After the festivities were over we related our adven- 
tures to a crowd of attentive listeners. Two or three days after, we 
started on our wedding tour, Don Carlos accompanying us. We went 


16 


tlirough nearly all the principal States in the Union. Once when we 
were resting at a small country town we met a lovely young girl, whom 
Carlos married shortly after. AVhen we returned to Mexico we found it 
nearly the same as ever; onlj^ some of the friends of my bride had fixed 
up the cave that had hitherto been the residence of robbers, and it was 
now a cool summer residence. Often did we repair to this delicious 
grotto and think of our remarkable escape. 

“Two short years passed in this manner; but they were too good to 
last long, and at the beginning of the third year my wife faded and died. 
I buried her, and having erected a costly monument to her memory I 
returned to this country nearly heart-broken. ” 

Here the stranger burst into an irrejiressible flood of tears. After 
his grief had subsided a little I asked him what became of the three rob- 
bers that were captured ? 

“They were pardoned, on condition of leaving the country forever, 
which they did, and were never heard of after.” 

At this moment G was announced, and as I was going 

out here and my fellow traveler was going on further, I took leave of 
him. 

“I hope I may see you again, sir,” said I, “for I am greatly in 
your debt, and you know I said I would tell a story, too, which I 
have not done.” 

“Come, hurry up there!” said the driver. 

I lifted my heavy portmanteau and walked slowly away, musing on 
the strange history of him who had been 1113^ companion. I have never 
seen him since, so I am still in his debt. 


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